November international air demand, as measured in revenue passenger kilometers, increased 11.6 percent year over year, according to the latest monthly report from the International Air Transport Association. It had increased 9.5 percent in October 2024.
“Strong performance” by carriers in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region led the double-digit increase, according to IATA. Europe’s international demand was up 9.4 percent year over year, while Asia-Pacific traffic increased 19.9 percent compared with November 2023.
November domestic demand was up 3.1 percent from a year prior, below October’s 3.5 percent year-over-year increase, according to IATA. Total November global air traffic increased 8.1 percent year over year, exceeding October’s 7.1 percent gain.
“November was another month of strong growth in the demand for air travel,” IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement. “The month was also another reminder of the supply chain issues that are preventing airlines from getting the aircraft they need to meet growing demand.”
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“Capacity growth is lagging demand by 2.4 percentage points and load factors are at record levels,” Walsh said. “Airlines are missing out on opportunities to better serve customers, modernize their products and improve their environmental performance because aircraft are not being delivered on time.”
Total November capacity, as measured in available seat kilometers, was up 5.7 percent year over year, below the 6.1 percent increase in October. The November load factor was up 1.9 percentage points from November 2023 to 83.4 percent, an all-time high for the month, according to IATA.
November international capacity was up 8.6 percent year over year, equaling the October increase, with the load factor at 83.4 percent, a 2.3 percentage-point increase from a year prior. Asia-Pacific led the regions with a 16.2 percent increase compared with a year prior, while North America had the lowest capacity increase, at 1.6 percent year over year.
Domestic capacity in November increased 1.5 percent year over year, below the 2 percent increase in October. The load factor was up 1.2 percentage points from a year prior to 83.5 percent. India had the highest capacity change, increasing 9.2 percent year over year. U.S. capacity increased slightly by 0.5 percent compared with November 2023, while Australia reported a 1.4 percent decline.
